Fiona Christensen, of flower and plant firm Green & Bloom in the Flower Market, was this morning’s ‘Early Rising Hero’ on BBC Radio London.

Breakfast show presenter Salma El-Wardany talks each morning to “someone who gets up in the early hours of the day to make sure Londoners have everything they need”. Salma introduced Fiona by asking rhetorically: “What more do we need more to cheer us up than flowers?”

She asked Fiona about her routine and the Green & Bloom Account Manager told listeners that depending on the day, she gets out of bed between 1.30am and 3am, admitting that she rarely sleeps as much as she knows she should. “I should be getting in to bed a bit earlier,” she said. “I try to get at least five hours sleep by going to bed at 8pm, but generally I end up going at about 10pm. I try to get an afternoon nap in though!”

The presenter then asked whether the cost-of-living crisis has affected flower sales. “It has affected us a little bit in terms that flowers are a nice thing to have, not a must have,” said Fiona. “It is something people are cutting back on, but hopefully as Valentine’s Day coming up, that will draw everybody back in to wanting to have flowers for the special occasion on February 14^th.”

On a regular day, Fiona added, Green & Bloom will stock roughly 200-300 red roses on its stand at NCGM, but around Valentine’s Day, that will switch to “a few thousand”. That would include customers who have pre-ordered roses for their stores and shops, “but we do go through a few thousand roses every day,” said Fiona. “It’s their shining moment.”